Brazen Burglary Hits Warragul

June 22, 2023

A brazen burglary has devastated the Community College Gippsland community over the weekend.

Thieves made off with more than $185,000 worth of items, including a bus, ute, quad bike, tools, equipment, training resources and cash from the Warragul Campus.

Many of the stolen items were used for hands-on learning, leaving trainers without the tools needed to deliver classes to their students while they wait for the police investigation and insurance claims to be finalised, or items to be recovered. 

Community College Gippsland CEO, Dale Gemmell, said that the loss was heartbreaking.

“This violation of our safe space and disruption to our students’ learning is very upsetting,” Mr Gemmell said. “But rest assured, we are determined and resilient. We won’t let this crime stop us from the important work of transforming lives through learning.”

Mr Gemmell said that the organisation was particularly saddened to lose items that had been achieved through donations from the local community.

“As a not-for-profit organisation, we exist to serve our community and they have always backed us to support our students through financial and equipment donations,” he said. “We are very sorry to report that some of these treasured items have now been lost to this crime.

“We hope that the community will rally around us again now and provide any support that they can. That might mean keeping an eye out for the stolen items, reporting anything you hear about the theft, or even choosing to make a donation if they are in a position to do so. We are so grateful to everyone for their care and encouragement.”

Physical donations of tools and equipment can be arranged by calling 5622 6000. Financial donations can be made in person, or securely online. As a registered charity, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.